Secrets and Lives
by readbetweenthesigns
Summary: Puck and Quinn, Ricky and Amy, they've all been invited to take part in a week-long teen parent therapy session...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied, the author does not make any profit from this work of fiction.**

 **A/N: Teen Parent Camp…how else would you want to spend Spring Break?**

"Nice room," Puck said as he followed Quinn through the door. He glanced around, checked out the décor, it was a really nice room.

"Yeah," Quinn agreed and headed for the sliding doors that opened onto a small balcony. "Great view," she called over her shoulder, and it was, it was a beautiful sea view, she could even hear the waves lapping gently on the sand, it was a wonderfully relaxing sound.

Puck dropped their suitcases on the bed, he noted it was a really huge one – _one_ being the operative word - he'd been quite dubious when the guy on reception had asked them to sign for their key cards and he saw they were in the same room. "There's only one bed," he informed Quinn as he too stepped out onto the balcony, just in case she hadn't noticed that for herself when she'd walked past it. "And I know you told the organisers when we agreed to come here that we aren't together," he said and watched a guilty flush colour Quinn's face. "You did tell them, didn't you?" he asked.

"I might not have mentioned that part," Quinn replied – she still had a little hope in her heart that Puck would give her what she so desperately craved.

From an adjoining balcony, Puck and Quinn heard the whoosh of the door sliding open. "I miss him already," a young woman sighed from that direction. Puck and Quinn glanced at each other, they thought they were the first to arrive and everyone else was due to arrive tomorrow morning, they just hadn't wanted to either set off at the crack of dawn or miss the first day's activities by setting off at a more reasonable time. It appeared that at least one other couple had had that same idea. Not that _they_ were a couple, Puck and Quinn, they weren't, they were friends, though, finally. "I'm going to call, make sure he's alright," the woman added decisively.

"Amy," a guy sighed with a hint of tried patience. "John is fine, he's with your dad and my mom, he's fine and it'll only upset him again if his mommy calls and is in tears," he reminded her, "again."

"I know," the young woman – Amy – groaned, "but I miss him so much," she mumbled.

"Look at it like this," the guy said, he sounded so reasonable and nice, "we never did get a honeymoon, this week could be like a honeymoon for us," he added. Puck and Quinn could hear the need – and the romance – in his tone, they crept inside as the sounds on the other balcony turned amorous, the couple were definitely kissing…at the very least!

"Honeymoon?" Puck hissed as he and Quinn tiptoed inside. "A week of therapy with a group of dysfunctional teen parents is a honeymoon for these people? What is wrong with them?" he asked in disbelief, he wasn't entirely sure if he was amused or if he felt really sorry for the guy. "Fuck me," he muttered and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, please," Quinn whispered as she walked by him.

Puck wasn't sure if he'd heard her correctly. Did she just say 'yes please'? "Wait, what?" Puck demanded – he suddenly couldn't swallow, his mouth was dry.

"I said, yes, please," Quinn answered confidently, precisely. She turned to face him, looked him straight in the eyes. "You know I want you, I already told you that back at home, and I get that it would be bad to get pregnant again, but the only experience I have is that one time with you, and I really would like to learn more," she explained. Quinn's eyes fell to Puck's chest, to where her fingers were toying with the buttons on his shirt, shyly, as if unsure of her welcome. Quinn pushed one of the buttons through its hole, she paused for a second and then undid another. Puck didn't say a word – he didn't encourage her, but he didn't stop her either.

When Quinn reached the last button, Puck came to his senses, his thoughts had caught up with him. "Only time?" he asked hoarsely, he hadn't been entirely sure his voice would work – his brain sure wasn't firing on all cylinders! "What about Finn?" he asked, his voice trembled slightly. Quinn shook her head and walked her fingers back up to his chest. "Skater boy?" he asked with a dry gulp, again, Quinn shook her head. "And I know you never let _me_ do it again, even when you lived with me and you couldn't get any more pregnant," he muttered - and it wasn't like he hadn't tried, he had, she'd just shot him down every time! Puck swallowed hard and glanced at the huge bed, it seemed to shrink before his very eyes! No way was he going to be able to sleep in that thing every night for a week, with Quinn at his side and not touch her, not a chance! "You really want to do this?" Puck asked – he had to be sure, really, really sure.

"I really want to do this," Quinn replied. "Show me," she sighed as she stood on tiptoe to press her lips against his, "teach me." Puck had no resistance left, no willpower whatsoever. Puck junior was adamant he wanted to come out to play – as Quinn discovered when she pressed herself against Puck. "Hard for me," she murmured against his lips, and then allowed her hands to drop to the top button of his pants.

"I'm always hard for you," Puck groaned. Without any real thought to the consequences, Puck saw no reason not to admit that, to admit that most of his dreams and fantasies involved Quinn in some way, whether she was in her cheerleader's outfit, one of her 'church going' outfits, her skank gear, didn't matter, he fancied the pants off her either way – despite what he'd claimed a couple of months ago. Puck still had no idea why the phrase 'raw dog a beehive' had popped into his brain!

Quinn stretched again and pressed her lips daintily against his. Puck waited for a second or two, her hand dropped a touch further and brushed against the hardness. Quinn groaned in anticipation, she really couldn't wait to try all the things she'd researched on the internet.

* * *

Ricky groaned with pleasure. He watched through narrowed eyes as Amy slowly divested herself of her clothing. He lay back, naked, on the huge bed – it was almost the size of their living room at home! Ricky smiled as Amy dropped her bra to the floor, the memory of a locker room conversation came back to him. " _Amy Jurgens, founder member of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee,"_ one of the football players mocked – without realising that Ricky was right behind him.

" _Yeah, they may be small, but they fed my son,"_ Ricky informed the embarrassed looking guy who'd turned around expecting to laugh with his audience but instead found himself faced with Ricky Underwood. _"And it's Underwood, Amy Underwood,"_ he reminded the guy – and the rest of the guys in the locker room. _"Do you really want to stand there and brag to me that you stare at my wife's tits?"_ he asked...

Ricky dragged his mind back to the present. "Amy," he groaned as she crawled, naked, up the bed to drape herself over her ever-ready husband.

"Ricky," Amy sighed, just slightly mockingly as she adjusted her position to allow his rock hard dick to invade her womanhood – just exactly the way she liked it…

* * *

Quinn trembled in anticipation, her nervous fingers plucked at Puck's pants till he took pity on her and ripped them apart, the buttons popped through the holes as loud as bullets from a gun! Quinn gulped, she glanced down, commando, as usual, Puck's dick was hard already and appeared to be revelling in the freedom his unfastened pants offered.

Puck stepped closer, his hands moulded Quinn's shoulders as he bent his head to hers. She was an amazing kisser, he'd always thought that, and every time their lips touched, his blood turned to lava in his veins. How had he held back for this long? Why would he even want to? Puck groaned as Quinn's tongue stroked his, he stepped closer to Quinn, urged her to step back…and again…and again till the bed prevented her from retreating anymore and put them in exactly the place that Puck had intended.

Puck stared at Quinn, Quinn stared at Puck, Quinn dropped onto her butt on the bed, and still she didn't blink. Slowly, so very slowly, Puck bent, Quinn leaned back to accommodate him. Within seconds, they were scooting up the bed, Quinn on her butt, Puck on his hands and knees, till they reached the top and he covered her. Quinn's trembling sigh as his weight held her in position made the whole of Puck's body tremble, he couldn't remember the last time he had been this excited…yes he could, it was right before he'd realised he didn't have a condom the last time they were on her bed, making out…just before he told her about sleeping with Shelby! "Shit," Puck sighed and pushed himself up and off of her.

"What's up?" Quinn asked, she leaned up to try to stay connected with Puck.

"I still don't have a condom," Puck admitted. Quinn stared at him, this was a serious attack of déjà vu!

"We don't need them," Quinn groaned, she reached up to join their lips together again.

Puck so desperately wanted that to be true…but he couldn't risk it. "Not being funny, but you said that the last time too," Puck reminded her, "and you were just trying to get pregnant."

"I learned my lesson," Quinn said breathlessly and shifted underneath him, he was still perched across her thighs and she was held captive by the tempting sight of his dick poking out the top of his pants. Puck looked sceptical. "Really, I did," she insisted. "I went to see Dr Wu about the contraceptive implant," she added and nodded her head towards her upper arm.

"Thank God," Puck sighed and fell forwards on top of her. Within moments, Quinn's clothes were history, Puck moaned as each item of clothing revealed yet another delightful piece of her body for him to drool over, to lust after and to love until she cried out…

* * *

Amy squeezed her muscles tight, she loved that feeling, that sensation of being full, of being in control, it was just the best.

Ricky paced himself, he rocked up into Amy, his hips thrust high, and then she rocked, hard - just like he knew she would – to make him lose control. It was her favourite thing, to make Ricky lose control, and she was the only one who ever could – no other woman, no other girl, had ever made him lose it like Amy did – not even his first! They cried out together as their bodies clenched against the sensation, as Ricky blasted up into her, filled her with his essence as simultaneously, Amy melted all over him.

Amy fell forwards, she wrapped her arms under his shoulders, her lips were fused with his, the sweat on their bodies was drying fast in the breeze from the open sliding doors.

Ricky's hands slid up and down Amy's back, they pressed on her hips to keep the rocking sensation going, keep the motion alive, the feeling strong. "You know, I could go again if you give me a few minutes," he told her with a slightly cheesy grin.

"I could too," Amy replied with a giggle. Ricky started to roll over, Amy squealed and held on, her legs gripped to him, her arms around his neck. "One more time with feeling," she whispered…

* * *

Puck looked – and probably felt - as uncomfortable as the other guys in the group. He looked around and made snap judgements. They all appeared to be of a similar age to himself, they all looked like they were the cockiest badasses around...just like him. "So, why are we all here?" Puck asked.

"I think we're supposed to introduce ourselves," the guy to Puck's left replied.

Puck recognised the voice, it was the guy in the room next to him and Quinn. Automatically Puck glanced at the guy's left hand, sure enough, he wore a gold wedding band - maybe this really was their honeymoon! "Who wants to go first?" Puck asked.

"You're the one with all the questions, why don't you go first?" the guy said in a slightly belligerent tone.

"Fine," Puck sighed. "Noah Puckerman, but everyone calls me Puck," he said as an introduction. "This is about teen parents right?" he asked, the rest of the guys nodded. "Ok, so I knocked up my best friend's girlfriend and then we lied to him about it for months before he finally found out he wasn't the daddy and kicked her out of his house, her parents had already kicked her out so she was living with him," he said, giving a very brief potted history, "so she came to live with me even though we haven't ever been together as a couple," he explained. "When the baby was born we gave her up for adoption and then Quinn went home to her mom," he finished with a sigh, he still regretted that decision – every single day.

"How old were you?" an older voice asked. Puck turned and finally noticed the man he thought must be the counsellor.

"Sixteen," Puck replied, "we were sixteen," he made sure they knew both he and Quinn were old enough.

"Who's next?" the counsellor asked, no one looked like they were going to divulge their information. "Well, my name is Paul and when I was fifteen I had sex for the first time, my girlfriend was fifteen too," he said. "And when we found out that she was pregnant we had no idea what to do," he added and looked around at the young men in the group, every single one of them nodded, they knew exactly where he was coming from. One by one the guys introduced themselves, they went around the circle until the last person, the guy on Puck's left, was the only one left.

"Ricky Underwood," Ricky told them his name, "and it wasn't exactly like that for me," he added. "See, I was a player, I had sex with so many girls it was ridiculous but I always used a condom, like, no harm, no foul, you know?" he said quietly and shrugged. "And then, this one time, at band camp the summer before my sophomore year, I met this girl and she was like no one else on the planet, I didn't really know what hit me, but, we had sex, without a condom, and bam, she was pregnant," he announced with a pained grin. "She was fifteen, I was sixteen," he admitted, but he wasn't the only one to have had sex with an underage girl, there was a few of them who'd admitted that, so he wasn't worried. "Amy didn't tell me at first, and when school started, I'd already moved on, I was with another girl, Amy had met another guy, so we weren't together at all throughout the pregnancy," he explained. "I mean, I tried to be there but she didn't want me to be involved, her family were supportive, they were there for her," he added, he didn't want anyone to think that Amy was a poor unfortunate victim left without support. Ricky paused for a moment to clear his mind.

"So, what happened to the baby?" Paul asked as the pause seemed to be endless.

"John," Ricky stated with pride, "my son, John, he's almost three," he said with a smile. "He's at home right now, and while we're here he's being cared for by Amy's dad and my mom, my birth mom," he explained. "My adoptive mom and Amy's mom will look in on them and supervise if they need any help," he muttered, more to himself than to the group. "The day he was born, it was amazing, it was the thing that opened my eyes to the possibility of family," he said quietly. "The first time I held him, I was filled with such an awesome rush of love, I can't explain," he sighed and shook his head, the memory of that day was imprinted on him.

"First time I held Beth, it was just like that," Puck said, the soft, faraway look in his eyes betrayed his feelings. "I hoped that Quinn would keep her, that she would agree we could keep her, but she wouldn't so we gave her up," he repeated what he'd said earlier. "I was like you," he admitted, "I'd been with so many girls, women, but yeah, Quinn was special, from the first time I saw her when she was trying out for the cheerios, man," Puck sighed, he shook his head, he hadn't thought of that in a long while.

"Obviously, you're still in touch otherwise you wouldn't be here," Ricky stated, he nodded at the other guys, they all nodded too. "Actually, I'm a bit confused," he said."I thought this program was for teen parents, like teen couples who are parents," he stated, "not teens who knocked up a random girl, gave the baby away and then had nothing more to do with each other," he mocked.

"Actually, it goes a little bit deeper than that," Paul revealed and prepared himself to speak – as he always had to. "My introduction should have been qualified by the words 'of my own choice'," he admitted and looked around at the suddenly shy teenage boys who were looking at anyone, anything, anywhere but at him. "The first time I had sex that was of my own choice, I was fifteen," he stated his new opening introduction. "The first time I was involved in any sort of sexual act, I was five," he said quietly and saw the gulps and the light dawning on every head. "Next door neighbour," he explained with a slight lift of one shoulder.

Puck's heart sank, he'd always known he would have to own it one day, but he thought _he'd_ have been in control of when that was, not this guy here! Puck sucked it up, he might as well just get it out there. "Five, uncle," Puck mumbled, he crossed his arms over his chest, a defensive move, he sat back in his chair, slouched, he looked as sullen as he possibly could, the usual way he withdrew from shit he didn't want to get into. "Thank you, Ms freakin' Pilsbury," he muttered under his breath.

"School counsellor?" Ricky asked quietly beside Puck, Puck nodded. "Yeah, feeling a little pissed at my old school counsellor right now, too, she's the one who put us forward for this," he muttered. "Three, and it was my dad," Ricky said to the group without making eye contact with anyone.

"Seven, family friend," another guy stated.

"Six, babysitter," a younger boy across the circle said.

"Eight, grandfather," yet another guy said and on it went, around the circle until every last one of them had revealed their age when the abuse began and the identity of their abuser – not the personal identity, just the role within the family. Puck noted that not one of them had said a stranger had been their abuser, every single one of them knew the person who had hurt them. Puck didn't know if he found that comforting – to know he wasn't alone – or if he found it _dis_ comforting, to know that there were so many families that had abusive people in them!

* * *

"Do we have to go eat with the group?" Quinn murmured, she looked at Puck through her lashes and bit her lip.

"Not if you don't want to," Puck replied quietly, he felt like taking a long, long shower – possibly for the rest of the week!

"There's something I want to try," Quinn whispered as she stepped closer to Puck.

"Oh, yeah?" Puck asked, there was something in Quinn's voice, a flirty, tempting shyness that sparked Puck's interest. He glanced at her with one eyebrow raised. "And what would that be?"

"Can't I just show you?" Quinn suggested, she swayed side to side, 'little girl lost' style, her shyness was sweet, endearing.

"So, show me," Puck whispered as Quinn leaned into him, he bent his head to touch his lips to hers, Quinn lifted up onto her toes to reach him, she placed a soft kiss on his lips and then sank to her knees. Puck sucked in a deep breath as Quinn taught herself something new. Manfully, he waited until she had learned his shape and taste in minute detail, and then he took over and bought undeniable pleasure to them both…and a little something more to Quinn - or at least, that's what she hoped!

* * *

"Do you mind if we give the group dinner a miss tonight?" Ricky asked as soon as he walked into their room. Amy glanced up from the magazine she was reading, she looked concerned, worried. "I mean, I know it's the first one and it's fine if you want to go, but it's been a tiring sort of session," he sighed and dropped down onto the end of the bed. Ricky blew out a breath as he fell back, his arm landed over his eyes – he kept it there, just to be safe.

"If you don't want to go, we'll order a pizza or something," Amy suggested, she put her magazine down and walked towards him. "We could eat it out there, on the balcony," she added flirtily. "Make a night of it," she murmured as she placed one knee beside his hip.

Ricky drew in a calming breath as he felt Amy's other knee next to his other hip, he could feel her heat over his groin and it made him hard, straight away, it made him hard. Amy felt the movement in the front of Ricky's pants, she rocked slightly to encourage more of it. "Amy, I don't know how much control I have right now," Ricky growled, he felt so unsure of himself, he felt exposed, he felt close to how he used to feel when he went out deliberately to pick up a random girl to fuck.

"I don't want you to have any control," Amy claimed huskily, "I want you to lose control. Totally lose control," she challenged - there were times when Amy thought Ricky was too restrained, too considerate of her, and she wished, just for once, that he would lose it.

"Fuck, Amy, I mean it," Ricky hissed, he knew he was seconds away from ripping her panties off and ramming himself into her, he had to have her now, right now, he had to make her body the only one he could think about, he had to cleanse himself with her. He had to have her. Now. "Argh," he grunted as his grasp on his control snapped.

Amy found herself winded, flat on her back, her panties yanked so hard that they ripped, actually ripped. Ricky's hot breath on her face as he thrust inside her both excited her and scared her at the same time. Ricky's eyes were frantic, his body was just as frantic, his movements rapid, uncontrolled.

Amy gripped on tight, she bucked under him, her movements uncoordinated, as frenetic as Ricky's. She wanted to cry out, she wanted to slam upwards and knock him off, she wanted to slide over him and ride him hard, but she didn't know if he was aware enough of her, he was like the Ricky of old, the Ricky he was before John melted his heart. "Ricky," she sighed, when she just couldn't hold it in anymore, when her body shattered into a million pieces…and her heart into a billion more!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied, the author does not make any profit from this work of fiction.**

 **A/N: "...it's always darkest before the dawn..."**

Paul spoke to the other counsellors after dinner. "I really think everyone should have at least tried to attend," he complained. "I mean, I know the first day can be intense, especially if you're not used to sharing your story, but some of these guys really need to learn to talk to other people."

"I pinpointed the ones who probably wouldn't show just from their profiles," the young female counsellor – Heather - said and lifted her information sheet to look at it. She frowned as she put faces – now that she'd met them – to the names that had been on her list for at least six months. "Noah Puckerman and Ricky Underwood jumped out straight away as non-attenders," she announced, "along with Leroy Parker and Joshua Norman, I already starred them before they even arrived," she revealed and grinned as Paul looked impressed at her insight.

"Yep, Puckerman and Underwood seem like they're going to be the toughest nuts to crack," Paul agreed.

"Their partners seem to be fine, though, very open, very friendly," Heather commented as she looked down the list and frowned to herself, she wondered how they could get around that, the not wanting to socialise with the others.

"Parker and Norman's girlfriends, Underwood's wife, Puckerman's nothing, apparently not even his girlfriend," Paul responded. "But we didn't get any information about them wanting separate rooms or anything, did we?" he asked.

"Nope, nothing," Heather replied. She checked out the client files and found the information provided by the school counsellor. "Ms Pilsbury hasn't made any comment about them not being together, in fact, the personal information about the two of them is very vague and ambiguous. Anyone reading this would be excused from assuming that they are a couple," she added as she read the information twice over, once with the thought that they were a couple and once with the thought that they weren't. The information fit both scenarios. "Very vague," she said to herself quietly.

"Luckily they don't seem pissed about it," Paul sighed. "And, at least, they can share a room without world war three starting," he muttered and wondered if he and his former girlfriend, the one he'd gotten pregnant at the tender age of fifteen, could share any airspace without resorting to fighting through lawyers. Probably not.

* * *

"So, today, it's mixed therapy," Paul said as he and Heather beamed at their captive audience.

"Yay," Puck cheered sarcastically under his breath, Quinn turned slightly and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Puck's hand found Quinn's and gripped it tightly, he settled their clasped hands gently on his thigh, he needed that contact with her, he needed to know that she was with him, that she wouldn't abandon him – no matter what she heard.

"This is the time for you guys to open up and tell your partner anything you haven't told him or her before," Heather advised. "It doesn't have to be out loud for everyone else to hear, it can be written down and just shared between the two of you," she suggested.

"I have some information I'd like to share with you," Quinn murmured and leaned against Puck's shoulder. She took a piece of paper from the little pile in front of them and proceeded to write something down.

Puck grinned as he read over Quinn's shoulder. "Not sure that's exactly what they had in mind, but thank you, and I enjoyed it too," he murmured to Quinn. "Anytime, by the way," he offered and nudged his crotch with Quinn's hand that he'd retaken. Puck winked at her and shared a little shy smile.

"I think I will definitely want to do that again," Quinn whispered behind the piece of paper, and then she tried to concentrate on the task at hand. There was something really important that she needed to share with Puck, but she wanted to wait until the end of the week to do that - it was probably better that way.

Puck let go of Quinn's hand and took a piece of paper and a pen, he tapped the pen on the table again and again as the nerves overtook him. Puck gulped and tried again – he really wanted to explain to Quinn the circumstances that had made him what he was…but he didn't know how.

Ricky stared intently into Amy's eyes for a moment before he looked away, he had to look away to be able to speak. "You know a little about my past," he murmured as his thumb stroked back and forth across her knuckles. "I mean, you know what my dad did to me," he explained quietly, "well, that's what made me so ruthless about sex. I didn't care who, I didn't care when and I didn't care where. I just didn't care," he said and then looked into Amy's eyes again. "Until you. I didn't care, until you," he added and then looked away again, this was going to be the hard part, this was going to hurt. "All the others, they were nothing, they were just a means to an end, I used them to try to make myself forget what he did to me, like I had to prove to myself over and over again that I couldn't ever be interested in guys, that I was only interested in girls because I was afraid that people would think I was gay if they ever found out about me, about my dad, about what he did to me," he said in a hushed and slightly broken voice. Amy sniffed, she was trying her best to hold it together but she hurt so bad for him, she wanted to comfort him but she knew that Ricky wasn't ready for that yet.

"I have a confession to make," Ricky murmured, he had to get it out there, their future had to be set with the past open behind them. Amy nodded, she still didn't have it in her to speak, she knew she would fall to pieces if she even tried! "When I came home from New York, when you'd told me I had to stop sleeping around if I wanted us to have a chance," he said and then took a breath to make his confession, "I didn't do it straight away, I slept with one other person," he admitted. "I'm sorry, I know you thought I had given it up straight away and I allowed you to think that, I encouraged you to think that, but I didn't, I had one fall back," he said.

"When?" Amy croaked, she was devastated, she was surprised she even had a voice. For a second, Amy's mind drifted back to the week that Ricky had banished her from the apartment when he'd caught her snooping on his phone. "Please don't let it be then, please don't let it be then," she begged silently, her prayer was certainly meant for a higher power to listen to even if she didn't believe in God like Grace and Jack did - at least, not in the same way as Grace and Jack did!

"When you were out at that club," Ricky sighed, he felt like shit for telling her that, for reminding her first of all that everyone had forgotten her birthday, and telling her that he had gone out and fucked someone else without giving her a second thought.

"You thought I was out having fun when I'd told you to stop doing that if you wanted to get with me?" Amy asked, she felt comforted by his revelation. "And it was Carlee, right?" she asked with a little smirk on her face. "I know about that, Carlee texted me through Toby, that's why I came home early," she explained and leaned forward to wrap her arms around her husband's shoulders, "but thank you for telling me," she murmured into his ear. "Even if it's not exactly what they were intending, it's still cleansing for us to talk about stuff," she added.

"True," Ricky agreed, his arms tightened for a second. "And I know about the miscarriage," he whispered and hugged Amy tightly.

"How did you know about that?" Amy demanded. Amy was distraught, she'd thought that no one else knew about that, she thought she'd hidden it really well, her fear that she might have fallen pregnant again, her devastation when she peed on a stick and found that she had, her trauma when she woke up a few days later to run to the bathroom and the horror she felt at the sight of all that blood. Amy really hadn't wanted to hurt Ricky or to distract him from his hard work at college and neither had she wanted to ruin their first Christmas as a married couple, so she'd cleaned up, sucked it up and encouraged Ricky to think that her period had come out of sequence.

"I found the test," Ricky said and stroked his finger gently down her face. "You don't ever have to hide anything from me, whatever we face, we face it together," he reminded her. "And I know I've always said I don't want any more kids, but if it happens, it happens, I'd never want you to do anything about it," he assured her. Ricky realised how that sounded and hurried to reassure Amy even more. "Not that I think you did anything about it, I don't, I know that it just happened," he waffled on until Amy took pity on him with a gentle hand on his.

"Ok," Amy sniffed, she couldn't say anything else, she felt far too emotional, but she revelled in the warmth of his hand in hers as Ricky turned his hand over to clasp hers.

"Here," Puck muttered and handed a piece of paper to Quinn. Quinn took the paper and read it. A second or so later she looked at Puck with horrified eyes, it was exactly what he'd always feared would happen. "No," he grunted, "don't look at me like that, it doesn't change anything about us," he insisted.

"But," Quinn started to speak and then paused, she wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to say except to assure Puck that it wasn't his fault.

"I know all the spiel, I know it wasn't my fault," Puck said, his tone told Quinn that he'd heard that for years, "and I know I couldn't have done anything to stop it," he added and pulled a face. He'd been in therapy for years, he knew exactly what he should be saying.

"Can we go back to our room?" Quinn asked, she wanted to hear everything but she didn't want Puck to feel so vulnerable or exposed like he would be in this room with everyone else all around them.

"Sure," Puck replied and stood up. He caught Paul's eye and nodded his head towards the main part of the hotel, Paul nodded back, he got it, he knew that they needed privacy to talk about everything, there were a few other couples who followed suit.

Once in their room, Puck sat down on the bed, he propped himself up against the headboard, he knew it was going to take a while, there was no point being uncomfortable. "Ok, so, from the beginning," he sighed and prepared himself to launch into his sorry, sorry, tale. "Well, my dad left, for the first time, when I was five," he explained, "and so my mom needed to rely on other family members more and more, you know, to take care of me while she was at work," he looked at Quinn, she'd perched herself on the end of the bed with her legs crossed, she looked like she was enthralled already.

Puck forged ahead. "Anyway, my mom's brother came home from wherever it was he'd been, no one's ever told me that I can remember, maybe it was prison, I don't know, but anyway, he came home and he took a turn in taking care of me and slowly he managed it that he was the only one doing that, he encouraged my mom to pick up extra hours, he started to stay overnight so my mom picked up the night shifts because they paid more and it all made sense to her, he wouldn't take anything from her, he babysat for free," he said with a shrug – Quinn closed her eyes, she felt ill, she thought she knew what was going to come next. "The first time I woke up and he was there in my room I just knew it wasn't actually the first time," Puck said without any emotion, there wasn't a trace of it, his words were just matter of fact. "It was like I'd been having the same dream for weeks, like, ever since my mom worked nights, ever since my uncle started to sleep over, it was like I was asleep but not asleep," he said, he couldn't look at Quinn, he did not want to see her pity, he'd never wanted pity, he'd only ever wanted to overwrite the horrific memories of what sex meant to one person with memories that he made for himself, that was why he'd been so promiscuous, it was why he'd been so indiscriminate, it was why he'd always hated himself, why he didn't value himself - it was why he thought no one would value him, least of all, Quinn.

"I tried to tell my nana, but she just brushed it off," Puck said, "I didn't have the words to tell her what uncle Ari was doing, but it was like they just ignored the possibility," he said, his voice had turned angry, like he blamed the rest of his family for not taking note of his feelings and for not doing anything to stop it. "When I was eight, my dad came back for a short time," he said, and glanced at Quinn, she still hadn't moved. "I loved it because he stayed home with me at first, so Ari didn't have to come around at all. Then mom got pregnant with Natalie and he took off again, so that was that, uncle Ari was right back there, like a shot. As soon as my sister was born, mom went back to work and Ari took care of both of us," he said, the anger and emotion had left him again and calmness was the only thing on show. "I promised myself that if he started on Nat, I'd kill him, I mean, I could take it, I could just ignore it, block it out, if it meant that she was safe, so I stopped fighting, stopped trying to tell people, like my teacher, like my rabbi, like my mom, no one believed me anyway, they all thought the sun fucking shone on Ari," he growled, the anger was back. "It didn't matter, though, it didn't matter what promises I made to myself, Nat was always going to be safe, Ari wasn't into girls at all," he mocked though he knew it was in poor taste, "he was just into little boys."

"My dad came home again when Nat was about three," Puck said as he continued his story. "Mom was still working the night shift, Ari was still taking care of us, I was still getting woken up night after night but other than that, everything was fine. Thing is, my dad arrived home at night, he didn't knock, he didn't have to, he knew where my mom kept a spare key so he let himself in, he came up to my room to see me and found Ari, doing what he always did so my dad beat the crap out of him. My dad called the cops on himself, told them that if they didn't come and arrest him he was going to kill Ari for messing with me, so the cops came, they arrested my dad but they arrested Ari too. They were both kept in jail, and while he was waiting for his trial, my dad made sure that a few of the inmates knew what Ari had done and let's just say the life of a pedo in jail is not worth living," he told her and then released a calming breath. "He was found hanging in his cell before the trial although no one is quite sure if he did it himself through guilt or if it was done by someone else."

"Does it matter?" Quinn asked hoarsely. She really didn't think it mattered how, the only thing that mattered was that the poor excuse of a man couldn't hurt anyone anymore.

"It kind of does," Puck replied in a tone that made him sound surprised - maybe he was, maybe he'd surprised himself at how honest and open he'd been to Quinn. "On one hand I kind of hope that he did it himself in like an admission of guilt and on the other, I hope it was done by some fucking huge dude with anger issues and I hope he fucking hurt him first," he growled. "I know, it's something I still haven't dealt with yet," he mocked himself. Puck looked into Quinn's eyes. "You can leave, if you want," he offered with a shrug. "You'll still get your Brownie patch for trying to help a loser sort out his life," he assured her with a touch of sick humour.

"I'm not here for a patch, I'm here because I love you," Quinn admitted. "And because I want your baby," she added silently, though she wondered if - hoped - they 'd already managed that...

* * *

Quinn woke slowly on Friday morning, she felt Puck's gentle hands tease her body to life. She stretched and turned over, she smiled and listened to the sound of the waves on the shore, it was magical, absolutely magical, better than any dream she could have imagined. Puck's lips found her nipples, Quinn's eyes were still closed but she let Puck know that she was awake and a full participant in their morning endeavours.

"So, what are we?" Puck asked, he was still in position, on top of Quinn, looking down into her dreamy, satisfied eyes.

"Full of sperm," Quinn replied with a giggle, Puck shivered as the jiggle of her body caused some spectacular sensations to course through his body.

"Besides that," Puck sighed with infinite patience. "I meant to each other," he added and dipped his head to place a gentle kiss on Quinn's shining lips.

"I don't know," Quinn replied. "I haven't actually thought beyond this week," she admitted. Quinn considered all options for a moment. "You know I'm going to Yale in the fall," she reminded Puck, he nodded, "but I don't want this to end, not just yet," she whispered. "Oh, crap, I'd completely forgotten about Yale, what the hell was I thinking? What the hell will I do if I _am_ pregnant?" she thought in a sudden panic.

"I don't want it to end, either," Puck admitted. "I have plans," he added and shifted slightly, Quinn caught her breath, it felt sensational, he was still hard, still inside her.

"What plans?" Quinn asked, she shifted too and revelled in the fact that Puck responded immediately - her worries drifted away instantly, forgotten in the haze of renewed desire.

"I want to join the air force," Puck said, "but I need to graduate first otherwise I won't get in," he mumbled. Puck rocked his hips into Quinn again, made her suck in a breath. "Will you help me?" he asked with a pout and a flicker of the 'puppy dog' eyes that had made Quinn fall in love with him years ago.

"What's in it for me?" Quinn bargained with a glint of humour in her eyes.

"You get to have an air force boyfriend come to Yale to visit you," Puck offered, "and that's got to be so much better than a freakin' pool cleaner," he muttered. Quinn hugged Puck tight around the neck, she had to agree, it would look good to have a boyfriend who would visit her dressed in a sexy uniform.

"As soon as we get home, bring your books over to my house," Quinn offered and then rolled her hips, "we'll study," she promised in the most suggestive voice she could muster. Puck rocked his hips into her, he seemed to like the suggestion.

* * *

"Finally," Ricky sighed as Paul concluded the last session of the week.

"I know what you mean," Puck whispered back. "It's been kind of intense, hasn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ricky replied. "Did Quinn know all this before you came?"

"No, she had no idea of any of it," Puck answered. "Did Amy?"

"Yep, she knew about it," Ricky said, "it's something we talked about a few times, I mean, she knew the bare bones of it but I've given her a lot more detail this week, a bit more than she knew what to do with, I think," he added with a snort of laughter.

"In one way, I'm glad Ms Pilsbury sent us to this," Puck said, he sounded a little surprised about that.

"And in another way you're still pissed that she did?" Ricky asked with a touch of humour.

"No, I think I'm just glad about it," Puck replied. "I mean, it's given us a chance to be totally honest with each other and I don't think we ever have been before."

"Yeah," Ricky sighed, "I get that," he added with a deeper sigh. "I never told Amy before why I hate the smell of alcohol, any alcohol, and why I'll never drink," he said quietly. "It's because my dad used to force whisky down my throat when he came for me," he explained and then closed his eyes for a second. Ricky opened his eyes and gave Puck a considering look. "Amy never told me before that her birth control failed last year," he said - he really had to tell someone about that, it was sort of burning, festering in his stomach. "She never told me, till this week, that she was pregnant again and that she lost the baby, she said she didn't want to worry me," he explained in a bit of a pissed off way. "I remember her having a throat infection and the doctor giving her antibiotics," he added, "and I know that can affect the pill, at least, I know _now_ that it can," he muttered, "and I remember her getting the implant in her arm in January this year," he said and touched the area of his own arm that corresponded to the area of Amy's arm where she'd had the minor procedure. "Best thing ever invented by the way," he added with an appreciative smirk, "except for the scar and the weird feel of the rods under the skin," he said and shuddered slightly, "but for convenience, best thing ever."

"Scar?" Puck asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Scar," Ricky repeated and drew a small line on his inner bicep. "A little cut, hormone rods inserted, a stitch or two," he explained as he described the procedure with his arm in the air.

"Oh," Puck choked as he thought of Quinn's beautifully smooth, scar-free arms. Puck had a momentary jolt of fear that swept over his entire body, he swallowed hard. "Later," he added as he headed for the door, "we'll see you on the beach later."

* * *

Quinn was on the balcony when Puck got back to the room, she was stood, leaning against the wall, looking out over the beach. Puck walked up behind her, she didn't turn, but stretched up into his embrace as his arms stole around her. "You're back," Quinn murmured and leaned up to sneak a kiss on Puck's jaw.

"I'm back," Puck confirmed as his hands gently cupped Quinn's boobs.

"How was the final session?" Quinn asked.

"Interesting," Puck replied, though he was rather distracted because Quinn's ass was rubbing against the front of his pants. Puck groaned and pulled Quinn even tighter to him, he buried his face in her hair and groaned again, this time out loud. "Out here," he growled and pushed Quinn's clothes out of the way.

"Yes," Quinn cried with a hitch in her voice, Puck's fingers invaded her and set off a sweet, sweet fire.

Puck growled as he shoved his pants down a little, just enough to free himself. "Shit, Quinn," Puck hissed as he entered her from behind, his thrusts pressed her against the smooth plastered waist-high wall. Puck's rapid movements created delicious reactions inside Quinn, she thrust her ass back at him, she twisted her upper body to be able to kiss him, to reach his delectable lips. Puck bent his knees a little to alter his angle of penetration. Quinn cried out. "Shh," Puck hissed at her, her arm was over her head and wrapped around his head, his hands were on her boobs, his lips were planted in the curve of her neck, if anyone looked up from the beach they would have been able to tell that the young couple were making out, but they wouldn't have known they were doing anything more than that...their immediate neighbours, however, were another matter!

"I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming," Quinn whispered, her body shivered with the strength of her climax.

"Oh, God," Puck cried as he thrust inside her one final time and shot her full of his energetic sperm. "I always wanted to do it on a balcony," he whispered into her hair with a grin on his face. "Come on," he murmured as he spun her around, "let's go get showered ready for the beach party," he added just before he dipped his head to kiss her thoroughly.

* * *

"I can't wait to see John tomorrow," Amy sighed as she drew lazy patterns on Ricky's chest. They were laid on their bed, naked and slightly sweaty, the sounds from the neighbouring balcony had turned them both on, they hadn't had a moment's hesitation about acting on that desire.

"Me either," Ricky replied just as quietly. "I think we should start looking for a bigger apartment," he announced out of the blue.

Amy pushed up on her arms to look down into Ricky's face. "What?" she demanded with a touch of excitement and apprehension. "Where did that come from?" she asked with a hint of laughter.

"From being able to throw you down on a bed and have my way with you in the middle of the day," Ricky answered with a laugh of his own. Ricky surged up, pushed Amy over onto her back and leaned over her. "Just think about it," he suggested, "John's playing in his room, we sneak off to our room and get it on," he said with a thrust of his hips in her direction, his renewed desire for her was evident in the solid length against her stomach. "With our bed being folded up out of the way, we don't have that luxury right now, but wouldn't it be awesome if we did?" he asked with a sigh.

"My mom made a suggestion last week, I haven't had time to discuss it with you yet," Amy murmured and threaded her fingers through Ricky's thick, dark hair. "You know my dad is moving into Kathleen's house when they remarry next month, right?" she asked, she hoped that she would word this right so that Ricky's over-developed sense of independence didn't come crashing in to destroy her perfect dream.

"Yeah, so?" Ricky agreed with a shrug.

"So, my mom wants to stay in Palm Springs to be near Mimsy," Amy said and felt a nervous thrill tremble through her entire body as she thought about the offer her mom had made. "And Ashley has no intention of coming home from Italy anytime soon," she added, to delay the moment when Ricky would veto the idea.

"Yeah, so?" Ricky repeated with a touch of impatience.

"So," Amy copied, "my mom doesn't want to sell the house, she wants to keep it so that she and Robbie have somewhere to come back to if and when anything happens to Mimsy," she explained. Ricky shrugged and shook his head, he was still none the wiser. Amy rolled her eyes, he was going to make her say it, he wasn't going to figure it out for himself. "So she wants to know if we want to move into the house, make it our own until we both graduate college, until we find jobs and start our careers," she finished quietly, she really didn't want to show her excitement, she truly hoped that Ricky wouldn't immediately say no.

"As in, we rent the place from her?" Ricky asked, he sounded interested. And he wasn't saying no. "How much a month do you think she'll want for the place?" he asked.

"Oh, she said if we just pay the utilities, we don't have to pay rent," Amy assured Ricky.

"Amy, no, we can't live there rent free," Ricky responded immediately. "We can't take advantage of your mom like that," he insisted.

"How much do we pay Mr Boykewich?" Amy asked, she felt slightly frustrated, she knew that Mr Boykewich made a deduction for the rent from Ricky's paycheck before he even got it, so she'd never actually known how much they paid to live in the little apartment above the butcher's shop.

"Actually, Mr Boykewich will only take $1 a week," Ricky muttered, and he hated that, he hated feeling beholden to anyone, he wanted to pay his way, be an adult, be treated as an equal. "He says it's because it's like having extra security on site, having us live over the shop like we do."

"The reason my mom doesn't want to make us pay rent is because she prefers the house to be occupied rather than standing empty," Amy explained in a flash of inspiration. "She says that an empty house is a temptation to far too many unsavoury people," she added, as though quoting her mother when in reality it was a line from one of her recent English Lit papers.

Ricky thought about it for a few moments, he pictured John playing out in the back yard, he pictured the two of them sitting on the patio, watching him. Ricky smiled as he imagined John playing in the room he'd used for a nursery when he'd been a baby, he also imagined himself and Amy sneaking into her childhood bedroom to create some amazing memories on rainy afternoons. "What about Nora?" he asked, he couldn't think how to put a stumbling block in the way apart from mentioning his mother.

"Well, since my dad redesigned the garage space and made it into a totally self-contained apartment for her, she's fine where she is," Amy replied - and then realised it totally negated her mom's argument about the house needing tenants to keep it safe.

"So Nora will live in the garage apartment, and we'll live in the house? Just the three of us?" Ricky asked.

"Well, just the three of us for now," Amy said with a husky lilt to her voice. "You never know what the future might hold," she whispered as she drew Ricky's face to hers, touched his lips with hers, and then nothing more was said, not about the apartment, not about the house, nothing apart from murmured words of love...

* * *

The whole group met on the beach after dinner, some people had gathered driftwood and had built a fire, they all sat around it, laughing, teasing, joking and playing around. Puck had brought his guitar with him, Ricky fashioned some drums from items washed up on the beach, one or two others had guitars too and the sounds they were playing were quite creditable. Puck looked at Quinn and nodded his head up to her, he gave her a questioning look, she tilted her eyebrow up and nodded back, there was a particular song they'd been working on together in glee, it seemed like it would suit the moment. Puck began to sing the first few bars acapella, it was gratifying when the other musicians joined in with his guitar playing and when Quinn added her voice to his, just exactly as they'd practiced it at school.

"Regrets collect like old friends  
Here to relive your darkest moments  
I can see no way, I can see no way  
And all of the ghouls come out to play  
And every demon wants his pound of flesh  
But I like to keep some things to myself  
I like to keep my issues drawn  
It's always darkest before the dawn

And I've been a fool and I've been blind  
I can never leave the past behind  
I can see no way, I can see no way  
I'm always dragging that horse around  
All of his questions such a mournful sound  
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground  
Cause I like to keep my issues drawn  
But it's always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out  
Shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa  
Shake it out, shake it out  
Shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa  
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back  
So shake him off, oh whoa

And I am done with my graceless heart  
So tonight I'm going to cut it out and then restart  
Because I like to keep my issues drawn  
It's always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out  
Shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa  
Shake it out, shake it out  
Shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa  
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back  
So shake him off, oh whoa

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back  
And given half the chance, would I take any of it back  
It's a fine romance but it's left me so undone  
It's always darkest before the dawn

And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't  
So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my rope  
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope  
It's a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat  
Because looking for heaven, found the devil in me  
Looking for heaven, found the devil in me  
Well, what the hell, I'm gonna let it happen, to me

Shake it out, shake it out  
Shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa  
Shake it out, shake it out  
Shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa  
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back  
So shake him off, oh whoa

Shake it out, shake it out  
Shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa  
Shake it out, shake it out  
Shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa  
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back  
So shake him off, oh whoa."

The entire group laughed and applauded themselves, they'd all joined in on the chorus, but they had to admit that Puck and Quinn really knew how to sing a song. "What about another song?" Paul asked and looked at Puck and Quinn, they seemed to know what they were doing and according to their profiles they were accomplished performers.

Puck thought for a second and then he gave a little snort of laughter, he had the perfect song to sing to Quinn, it was a little cheesy but he was sure he would be forgiven. "Ready for this?" he whispered to her and then dropped a tiny kiss on the end of her nose, Quinn scrunched her nose up and nodded, smiling. Again, Puck began the song acapella.

"Maybe I didn't treat you  
Quite as good as I should have  
Maybe I didn't love you  
Quite as often as I could have  
Little things I should have said and done  
I just never took the time

You were always on my mind  
You were always on my mind..."

By the end of the first chorus, almost all the guys had joined in to sing to their girls - even Paul to Heather, though they were just totally play-acting, there wasn't anything between them at all...was there?

* * *

The long drive home to Lima was slightly anticlimactic - or at least, Quinn thought so. "So," Puck said for the fifth or sixth time, without following it up with anything.

"So, what?" Quinn asked a touch impatiently.

"So when were you going to tell me that you didn't really get the implant in your arm?" Puck asked without taking his eyes off the road.

Quinn gulped, here it was, the piper was demanding his fee. "Well, to be fair," she began in a nervous voice, "I never actually said I'd had it done, just that I went to see about it," she clarified her statement from the beginning of the week - and immediately felt the guilt slip away.

Puck replayed the conversation over in his head - as he remembered it. " _I learned my lesson,_ " she had said. " _I went to see Dr Wu about the contraceptive implant_ ," she had explained. Puck had to admit, Quinn hadn't actually _said_ she'd had the implant put into her arm, he had made an assumption - as he was sure she had meant him to - and concluded that they were safe. What the hell were they going to do if they weren't? "Any idea what your mom's going to say if I have knocked you up again?" he asked in a lazy, almost desultory way.

Quinn took comfort in the fact that Puck didn't sound too pissed. Actually, he didn't sound pissed at all. "Not a clue," she admitted breathlessly. If she stopped to think about it for a moment, she would know exactly how her mom was going to react - Judy had already been quite specific, there would be no more offspring born out of wedlock, not in her family!

"Well, I can tell you now," Puck sighed and reached over the centre console to pick up Quinn's hand. "My mom will insist on us getting married," he informed Quinn. Puck remembered back to the first few days after Beth had been born, to the day that he had signed his rights away, the day that Shelby had taken custody of his little girl, the day that his mom had vowed and declared that she would never allow another grandchild of hers to be born out of the bonds of matrimony, regardless of who the mother was, her son would step up and marry the girl - even if he had to have a metaphoric shotgun aimed at his back!

Quinn gulped and shivered slightly. "Let's just wait and see," she whispered, her voice almost stuck in her throat. Now that she was faced with it, could she really, hand on heart, say that this was what she really wanted? Quinn didn't have an answer yet, she would have to wait a week or two to find out...


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied, the author does not make any profit from this work of fiction.**

 **A/N: ...so many secrets...**

Quinn rushed to answer her phone. "Amy, hi," she said with enthusiasm. "How are you?" she asked and sat down on her bed to settle in for a long chat with her new friend.

"We've been so busy since we came home," Amy replied. "Ricky agreed to move into my mom's house now that my dad has moved out," she explained, "so I've been here every night this week, after school and work, of course, to get my old room ready for us," she sighed happily. Amy laid back on her own bed and looked up at the ceiling, she didn't think she'd done too bad a job of painting it or the walls, in fact, she really liked the new colour. "John's going back into the nursery he had when he was a baby before we moved into the apartment with Ricky, and eventually, we'll fix the room up for him, make it a bit more grown up for him. My dad's been great too, he really enjoys doing all the manly DIY stuff, he's offered to do the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen once he comes back from his honeymoon," she said through a yawn.

"It sounds like you've been really busy," Quinn agreed. "All _I've_ done since we came home is help Puck to study for his geography test, oh and we've been rehearsing for Nationals, I must admit, I am so nervous about that," she groaned. "Actually, I've been really busy too," she said with surprise. "Plus, my period is late because I'm a feakin' idiot and I'm about to throw my life and my future away," she thought to herself and glanced towards the accusing calendar that was almost flashing at her like a damn beacon, advertising the fact that she hadn't been able to mark a little red cross on the corner of the day that her period started this month – because it hadn't actually started! Quinn was lucky that her mom hadn't noticed…yet.

"So, what is Puck up to?" Amy asked. "Are you two still seeing each other?" she asked, she was really enjoying this, chatting with someone other than her lifelong friends, someone she still had to learn stuff about, who had to learn stuff about her. Actually, Amy thought it was quite refreshing to have a friend who wasn't privy to all of her and Ricky's past history, she was sure that Quinn felt the same.

"Yes, we're still seeing each other," Quinn admitted coyly, she couldn't help the smile that curved her lips. Yes, absolutely yes, they were still seeing each other – and sleeping with each other – but the only people who knew were their moms and their sisters. And Ricky and Amy, but no one else, not yet. "He is being so attentive," Quinn sighed, "so much more than I would have ever thought."

"Ricky is too," Amy cried. "It's like he's become a new person since camp," she whispered – as if anyone could overhear her! "So, what are you guys singing for Nationals?" Amy asked

"First, all of us girls are singing Edge of Glory, then Rachel has a solo with All Coming Back To Me and then we'll finish with a group number, Paradise By The Dashboard Light," Quinn explained as she listed the numbers.

"You and Puck are singing the group number, right?" Amy asked as she began to bustle about, shifting boxes and cartons in the closet in her former room. "Oh, I'd forgotten that was there," she declared randomly when she caught sight of a box with a very famous lingerie logo on it. Amy knew that Ricky would be incredibly appreciative of the contents of the box - not while they were in the box, once they were on her, obviously!

"No, Puck and I will be in the chorus, although Puck does have a small solo in Paradise, but our stars, Rachel and Finn – I told you about them when we were at camp, didn't I? - will be taking the leads," Quinn replied with a fixed grin on her face. "As usual," she muttered under her breath.

Puck knocked and walked into Quinn's room. "Hey," he said quietly when he realised she was on the phone, he was automatically wary, they were still keeping their new relationship a secret from all of their friends.

"It's ok, it's Amy," Quinn reassured him, Puck leaned over to drop a kiss on her lips, Quinn raised her face for the kiss. "Hi," she whispered and bit her lip, she was suddenly feeling super, super, super horny, so much so that her mouth watered as she caught a whiff of Puck's pure manly scent. "Amy, I have to go, Puck has to study for a test and he needs my help," she lied and then ended the call as quickly as she could.

"You are such a liar," Puck whispered against Quinn's lips as he pushed her onto her back on her bed and covered her body with his own. "I know what it is you're wanting," he murmured and then rocked his hips into the cradle of hers, Quinn automatically hooked her legs over the back of Puck's thighs. "I can tell by your face, the way you're biting your lip, and the way your eyes have changed colour," he said with smug satisfaction. "You are so hot for me," he taunted her.

"Yes, I am," Quinn sighed, she dragged Puck's face to hers and proceeded to devour his mouth. "I want you, now, right now," she groaned into Puck's throat when she finally allowed him time to breathe.

Puck rolled over and took Quinn with him, he groaned and carried on kissing her as his hand blindly sought to open the nightstand drawer and snag a condom from the huge stash that was in there. "Anything happened yet?" he asked breathlessly, Quinn shook her head and swallowed hard. "No point taking any more risks," Puck added as he turned again to manoeuvre Quinn beneath him. Puck settled himself between Quinn's thighs – they were both still fully clothed – Puck was in a kneeling position, Quinn was prone. "So, do we talk to our moms first or do we take a test?" he asked, his hands rested gently on Quinn's thighs, just above her knees, the abandoned condom was still in its wrapper on the bed. "It's been six weeks," he reminded her, "you should have had your period by now."

"I know," Quinn sighed and covered her eyes with her hands. She felt like crying, she felt emotional, she felt nervous, but most of all, she felt scared. Quinn took a calming breath as she thought logically. There was no point upsetting their moms if there was nothing to get upset about. "We take a test first," she announced decisively.

"Good, that's what I hoped you'd say," Puck replied and hopped off the bed to pick up the backpack he'd dropped on the floor when he first came into her room. "Here," he said and tossed a package onto the bed beside Quinn. "I stopped at CVS," he added as if that mattered at all.

"Thank you," Quinn murmured as she opened the package and found a home pregnancy testing kit inside. "Ok," she whispered, more to herself than to Puck, "I'll go pee on a stick, then we'll know what we're dealing with," she said a little louder. "You can wait here," she ordered Puck.

"Absolutely," Puck agreed, "I have no interest in seeing you pee," he added quietly as Quinn closed the bathroom door behind her. "Please," Puck prayed, "if there is any justice in this world, you'll spare us this time," he whispered. "We've been through enough, we really could use a little good luck right about now." Puck turned as the bathroom door opened. When Quinn stepped back into the room, her eyes were fixed on the wand she was holding gingerly in her fingertips. "Well?" he asked nervously, breathlessly, Puck's heart was beating around a million beats per second!

"Just give it another minute," Quinn muttered and gulped. Quinn's hopes were soaring, so far that second little line hadn't developed. The silence in the room as they waited was just deafening, it was almost as though time had stopped, as though the world had stopped. Quinn wasn't even sure if she'd taken a breath since she'd come out of the bathroom. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a 'ding-dong' sound, Quinn's phone had chimed denoting that the required time had elapsed. "Thank you, Jesus," she cried as she sank to her knees and wept with relief.

Puck wasn't sure which way it had gone – he had realised by the end of their week at camp that Quinn was still quite desperate to have another baby. "And?" he asked, he was totally fishing for the information – he wanted to be put out of his misery too.

"Negative," Quinn cried happily, she had absolutely come to her senses and realised how ridiculous it was to want a child before she had even finished high school. "Oh, thank God," she sighed.

Puck was struck dumb with relief, he couldn't believe how amazingly lucky they had been. "Ok, so, we are totally going to continue having sex, there is no way I can be in a relationship with you and not sleep with you," he said firmly as soon as he knew he could speak. "So, I think, the best thing is for us to keep on using condoms," he suggested.

"And I think I should see Dr Wu again and actually _have_ the implant in my arm," Quinn said in a shaky voice. Quinn threw herself into Puck's arms and sobbed, letting all the pent up emotion flood out. "I am so sorry for putting you through that," she murmured against Puck's chest, "for putting both of us through that," she added. "What the hell was I thinking?" she demanded. "Please, the next time I do something stupid like that, slap me across the face and wake me the fuck up," she ordered Puck. "Promise me," she insisted.

"I promise," Puck replied with a smirk. "I promise, if you ever do anything stupid like that again," he said and then paused as Quinn's bedroom door opened.

Judy took in the scene in an instant. "Oh dear Lord, not again," she exclaimed quietly and gave a telling look to the wand that was still in Quinn's hand.

"Oh, no," Quinn answered with a happy grin. "We were worried that it might be, but no, negative, definitely negative," she added and then smiled at Puck.

Puck looked at Judy's face, she was going to take a lot more convincing than that. "We weren't totally careful when we were at camp," Puck admitted – he didn't want to say exactly how, he really didn't want Judy to be pissed at Quinn or at him. "We have been since, we were just making sure that we weren't already in a bad situation," he explained.

"Well, good, I'm pleased to hear it," Judy said rather stiltedly. "Maybe, if you're finding it difficult to stay safe," she added without making eye contact with either of them, "you should practice something like abstinence?" she suggested.

"That's not going to happen," Quinn replied with a giggle, "but I do think a trip to Dr Wu is on the cards," she muttered. Judy glanced at Quinn with her eyebrow raised – it seemed to be a Fabray trait. "Implant," Quinn answered her mother's unasked question.

"Hm," Judy hummed, "I've read about that," she acknowledged. "I think that might be a sensible option for you if abstinence is out of the question," she said quietly.

"We think so too," Puck agreed.

"Does your mom know about this, Noah?" Judy asked. Puck shook his head and pursed his lips. "I think you ought to let her know," Judy advised. "Let her know that this was a worry for you, but you've dealt with it and you aren't going to be taking any more risks," she suggested. Judy thought it better to be open so that if anyone mentioned it in the future, both she and Ruth would be fully up to speed with everything.

"I think you might be right," Puck agreed. He didn't particularly want to piss off his mother and neither did he want her to be pissed at Quinn, but he didn't want her to hear it from anyone else either, he knew these things had a way of getting out.

"So, are you staying here tonight, Noah?" Judy asked.

"We were going to," Puck answered, "but I think we might call over to my house, talk to my mom, maybe stay there," he suggested and gave Quinn's hand a nudge. "Are you ok with that?" he asked Quinn.

"Sure," Quinn agreed. "Mom, is that ok with you?" she asked.

"It's fine with me, Quinn," Judy answered. "Will you make the appointment to see Dr Wu or would you like me to arrange it?" she asked before heading to the door. Judy paused while she waited for her daughter to answer.

Quinn knew immediately what her mom's motivation was, she needed to be sure her daughter was really taking care of the situation. "Actually, mom, you could do that for me if you don't mind, you could come with me, too," she suggested. Puck nodded his agreement, he understood her reasons.

* * *

"Hey," Ricky said quietly when he came in after work. "Sorry I'm so late," he apologised. "We had a big delivery and I offered to stay and help Bunny get everything inventoried and put away," he said through a yawn.

"No problem," Amy murmured as Ricky's arms closed around her tiny waist and pulled her close to his body. "I'm glad you came over here and didn't just go straight up to the apartment," she whispered and squeezed tight. "John's already asleep in his old room," Amy told Ricky, "I think we should just stay here tonight," she suggested.

"We still never did anything in your room, did we?" Ricky murmured, he trembled a little as he felt the excitement build in his body. "Surely it won't piss your dad off now, will it?" he asked.

"I doubt it," Amy giggled, "we are married, after all," she murmured against Ricky's lips.

"True," Ricky agreed, "but I still feel like I'm overstepping the mark whenever we're here," he whispered as if George was about to appear out of the blue.

"We could always just practice on the sofa if you don't want to get naughty in the bedroom," Amy suggested with a flirty wink. "We're used to doing it on the sofa," she commented.

"It's going to be a novelty to have a real bed to sleep in and a real bedroom," Ricky replied with a laugh.

"With a door," both Ricky and Amy exclaimed together, they both snickered with laughter.

"I love you," Amy whispered against Ricky's shoulder as he hugged her close.

"I love you too," Ricky said with his lips resting on the top of Amy's head. "Want to take a shower with me?" he asked hopefully.

Amy looked up into Ricky's slumberous eyes. "I could be persuaded," she replied with a shy grin. "This house always has that effect on you, doesn't it?" she asked.

"I think it's because I still think of this as your parents' house," Ricky admitted, "and I think I just feel like we're going to get caught if we have sex here," he added and then glanced around as if Amy's mom and dad were going to leap out of a closet or something. "Makes everything more exciting," he whispered.

"I can assure you," Amy replied firmly, "we are going to be living here for quite a while," she stated as she urged Ricky to walk backwards in the direction of her bedroom, "and we are going to have sex here, lots of sex, in _all_ the rooms," she warned just before her lips pressed against Ricky's.

"Not my room," Nora exclaimed, "I hope," she added with a shudder.

Ricky closed his eyes and sighed, he hadn't heard her come in and he was sure Amy hadn't either. "Mom," he said with a touch of exasperation in his voice. He was so primed for Amy, no way could he let her go – they were plastered against each other – and even though usually he would have let go because he hated PDAs, he had to cling on for dear life…or embarrass the hell out of both himself, Amy and possibly his mother!

"Sorry," Nora said with a smile, "for interrupting," she added, "but it seems like you didn't want to answer the door, so your pizza was delivered to me," she explained.

"We didn't order pizza," Ricky said in a puzzled voice. "Did we?" he asked.

"No," Amy answered – she was puzzled too. "I made lasagne and salad for dinner," she told Ricky. "What sort of pizza is it?" she asked curiously.

"Hawaiian," Nora replied and opened the box again to sniff appreciatively. "My favourite," she groaned.

"Then you have it," Ricky advised. "You paid for it, didn't you?" he asked. "When it was delivered, you paid, right?"

"Guy said it was already paid for," Nora said and glanced back into the box. "It does smell really good," she murmured as if to convince herself. "Night all," she cried as she hurried away to her portion of the house – probably to consume the free pizza!

"Night," both Amy and Ricky called – Ricky, in particular, was thrilled that his mom had left, he had a need that only Amy could fulfil…and it had nothing at all to do with lasagne!

* * *

"Hi, mom," Puck called as he and Quinn rushed through the front door to get out of the sudden and unexpected downpour. "We're going to stay here tonight," he added and then tugged Quinn behind him as he headed upstairs to his room – and his bed - they could talk to his mom in the morning.

"Noah," Ruth Puckerman called to her son. "You have visitors," she announced and indicated Rachel and Finn who were waiting patiently on the sofa for either Puck or Quinn – _Quinn_? - to notice them.

"Finn, Rach," Puck choked out as they both backtracked down the few stairs they'd run up. "Wh-what are you doing here?" he asked them, he was totally dry mouthed and he wondered how the hell he and Quinn were going to explain what they were up to.

"We were waiting to talk to you," Rachel answered – she had the biggest grin on her face and she couldn't help but wink cheesily at Quinn. "But it looks like you're busy, we'll see you both at school on Monday," she added and then tugged Finn up by the arm.

"You're here now," Puck pointed out. "You might as well say what you were going to say," he suggested and then sighed as he sat down on the opposite sofa. Quinn sat daintily beside him – and ignored Finn's shit eating grin.

"I was going to say that Quinn has seemed rather distracted since spring break," Rachel said pertly as she and Finn sat back down. "Especially over the last couple of weeks and I was going to suggest you talk to her, she seems closer to you than she does to anyone else just recently."

Puck glanced at Quinn and lifted his eyebrow at her, she shrugged and nodded. "Well," Puck began, "the reason Quinn's been a touch distracted is because she was worried that she might be pregnant again," he explained. Quinn nipped Puck's little finger – the only piece of him that she was touching. "That _we_ might be pregnant again," he corrected himself, he stared at Quinn as he spoke.

"Oh, my God," Ruth cried, her hands flew to her mouth, she hadn't even thought of _that_ possibility.

"We're not," Quinn assured Ruth quite firmly, "but it was a possibility," she admitted. "We might as well tell them the rest," she said to Puck.

"Up to you," Puck replied with a non-committal shrug.

"In the fall, I'm going to Yale, as you know," Quinn announced, she turned and grinned at Puck, "and Puck has been conditionally accepted into the air force and he'll be based in New Jersey so he'll only be a few hours away," she said with pleasure.

"So, you two are an item now?" Finn asked – just to be sure.

"Yep," Puck said and then drew his arm around Quinn's shoulders. "C'mere," he murmured as he dipped his head to kiss her shining lips.

"Can we rewind to the maybe pregnant part?" Ruth demanded quite angrily - she already knew the other part anyway.

"We weren't totally careful when we were away at spring break," Puck replied, downplaying the whole week by quite a way and at the same time, inadvertently telling Finn and Rachel that he and Quinn had been somewhere together.

"And now you are?" Ruth pleaded, she really needed her son to man up and take responsibility for his future – and Quinn's future too.

"And now we are," Quinn agreed. "And soon we'll be even more careful, my mom's making an appointment for me to have the contraceptive implant in my arm," she explained – and even though she really didn't think that Rachel and Finn needed to hear that, she knew that Ruth _really_ did.

"It's all under control," Puck assured his mom – he really did not want to go into detail. Puck stared at Rachel, saw how excited she looked. "This is between us," he stated, "this is not something that I expect to hear about at school," he added firmly.

Rachel grinned and made a locking motion at her lips. "Oh, hey, I won't say a word," Finn promised. "Come on, let's get out of here," he said to Rachel. "Good night," he added over his shoulder as he reached the front door. Finn paused with his hand ready pull the door open, he turned back to add something. "And can I just say, _finally_ ," he groaned the last word dramatically. "We have all been waiting for this since, well, since you were pregnant I suppose, you two just seem so right together," he said softly and then turned back to the door and left, hurrying Rachel before him so she couldn't get the last word in like she usually tried to do.

Puck smiled at Quinn, Quinn smiled back. "Maybe they knew something we didn't," he suggested softly and then glanced at his mom. "But really, don't worry, we're fine, we're going to stay fine and in maybe five or ten years, we'll think about getting rid of the birth control and giving you some grandbabies," he suggested with a grin.

"Make sure it is five or ten years," Ruth muttered sternly. She was really glad that her son had finally managed to get the girl of his dreams, but she did not want a repeat of their sophomore year of high school, they were still far too young for that, they both had a lot of life to live first...

* * *

"John," Amy called from the kitchen and waited for even the vaguest response from her teenage son. "John," she shouted again. Still nothing. "John Jurgens Underwood," she yelled, she was getting annoyed.

"Hey," Ricky hissed as he opened his son's bedroom door. "Answer your mother, will you?" he suggested.

"Humph," John grunted into his pillow. John really did not want to get up just yet, he wanted his dad to get the hell out of his room so that he could grab his dick and finish off knocking one out to his early morning fantasy of what he could possibly do with the amazingly beautiful and talented Sasha Grayson, if and when he ever managed to get her alone at band camp.

"Just get up," Ricky sighed, he knew that John was awake, and from the awkward way that his son was laid across his bed, stretched out on his front with his ass in the air, he was probably experiencing the male phenomenon commonly known as 'morning wood'. "That's probably the reason why teenage boys arm muscles suddenly get so big," he thought to himself with a grin he tried - and failed - to hide.

"Ricky," Amy called and then turned back to the stove. "You're going to be late for work and you have to meet with the buyers from Paris," she reminded him over her shoulder as her husband walked into the kitchen. "Wow," she said with a grin, "you look handsome, handsome," she murmured as she turned fully to him and adjusted his tie. Amy wrapped her arms around Ricky's neck when he stepped right up close to her, well, as close as he could get, anyway. "Oops," she giggled and glanced down to her rounded stomach. "I think Pebbles wants to say hello," she laughed.

Ricky's hands rested on his daughter's current abode – his wife's stomach. "We're not calling her Pebbles," he whispered against Amy's lips. "You look gorgeous too," he assured her, and she did, she so did, pregnancy really suited her.

"John," Amy called again and almost deafened Ricky. "You know, he has a girlfriend, don't you?" she informed Ricky.

"I know," Ricky replied, "and yes, I've had the talk with him, reminded him what can happen, what happened to us when you were his age," he said and then rolled his eyes. "And I made sure he has condoms," he muttered although he knew that Amy would probably go ballistic at that – but in his opinion, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Why the hell would he need condoms?" Amy cried, she was aghast, absolutely astounded – no _way_ was her child old enough to even know what condoms were, never mind use them!

"Because he's fifteen, he's at band camp and he has a girlfriend?" Ricky listed the reasons. "And he's far too much like me to not try to have sex with her," he added honestly.

"Well, he shouldn't," Amy grumbled unhappily. Amy pouted as she absently rubbed Ricky's shoulders, she was only thirty years old, she was way too young for her son to be having sex with a girl!

"Don't panic," Ricky assured Amy with a smile. "He'll be fine, he knows what's what," he murmured and then dipped his head to kiss his wife's soft lips. "Mmm," he moaned, he really wished they had time to go back to bed, he really wanted to show Amy that it wasn't only their son who was in the mood for some serious loving.

"Please," John grumbled from the kitchen doorway, "the eggs are going to spoil," he grouched as he slumped into a seat at the kitchen table and frowned for all he was worth.

"And you're a growing boy who needs his breakfast," Ricky teased over his shoulder. "I'll see you later, I have to go to work, bye," he said as he turned and picked up his briefcase from the kitchen table – the same kitchen table that Amy had sat at when she had finally told her mom that she was pregnant with John all those years ago.

"Have a good day," Amy called as the back door closed behind Ricky. Amy turned and looked at her son. "So?" she asked him, her eyebrow was lifted just so, in that way that moms do when they want to know everything.

John shrugged, he said nothing, he just shrugged and waited for his mom to ask a more specific question. Amy stayed silent – she did something worse than the mom thing, she did the teacher thing, the looking down her nose over the top of imaginary glasses at him thing – and yes, that made him cave, it did every time! "We haven't had sex," he exclaimed in a hurry. "Yet," he whispered almost silently under his breath.

"I should hope you haven't," Amy retorted, she was slightly shocked – more than slightly, actually!

"You and dad did," John accused in a belligerent tone. "And you were the same age as me," he added insolently.

"Yes, and look what happened," Amy retorted. "I was fifteen years old, I had sex with your dad, once I might add, only once, but I still wound up pregnant," she stated, "and let me tell you, being pregnant at that age is no fun," she informed her son. "Do Sasha's parents know you're dating?" she asked as she placed his breakfast in front of him.

Sometimes it pissed John off that his mom was a teacher at Grant High School, she knew everything that happened with the kids in school – and band camp! "No," John muttered into his scrambled eggs.

"You know her dad's a cop, right?" Amy told John, she watched him gulp – obviously, he didn't know that. "He will arrest you if he finds out you're having sex with his daughter, his _underage_ daughter," she added and waited for John to respond in some way - he didn't. "John, you have your whole life ahead of you, please, just take things slowly, don't rush to the adult stuff, alright?" she suggested gruffly. John didn't reply, he couldn't argue with his mom's logic - despite how much he wanted to!

* * *

"Did you send those last minute invitations out?" Judy asked, she was organising dinner while Quinn made yet another mile-long list.

"Yes," Quinn replied though she sounded very distracted. "Sorry, mom," she said a few moments later. "Yes, they went out at the beginning of the week, we should start receiving the replies fairly soon," she added with a huge smile. "And Puck has a few days leave arranged to get everything done that he needs to do," she sighed, she was pleased that he would be coming home to her for even just a few days.

"Will he be staying here with you or will he go to Ruth's?" Judy asked. "I mean, he won't stay here the night before the wedding, will he?"

"Oh, no, no, not that night, but for the next few days he will," Quinn answered and went back to her list. "Amy, Ricky and John are definitely coming," she commented, she'd had an email from Amy to confirm - they'd had to wait for her doctor to agree that she could fly to Ohio and back this late in her pregnancy. "I still haven't heard from Shelby, though," she sighed sadly. Quinn had hoped that Shelby would have finally forgiven her for the ridiculous steps she had taken when she was still in the grips of depression after giving her baby up to the other woman.

"Maybe Noah has heard from her?" Judy suggested gently – she still had no idea what had taken place all those years ago, she knew something had, but she didn't know what.

"Maybe," Quinn agreed, "but I would have thought he would contact me if he heard from her," she murmured to herself. Quinn sighed and picked up her phone when it chimed with an incoming message. She held in the smirk when she read Puck's text – _on my way, get yr panties off xxx_. "Mom, I'm going to go have a soak in the bath, when Puck gets here just send him up," she said as she gathered all of her wedding stuff together. Quinn knew that he wouldn't have sent that message until he was less than an hour away, it was their little code thing, she did the same when she was visiting him.

* * *

"Seriously, mom, I just don't know what to do with him," Amy grumbled tearfully. "I mean, he doesn't talk to me he just grunts," she complained.

"Well, Amy, he's just being a teenager," Anne answered with exasperation. She had no clue why her daughter was asking her about it, _Amy_ was the one with the teaching degree and the juvenile counselling degree, surely she should understand children far more than most parents!

"He talks to Ricky," Amy mumbled back – she sounded like a disgruntled teenager herself. Actually, she sounded jealous.

"Just keep talking to him, but try not to lecture him," Anne advised. "I have to go, Robbie has a party I have to drive him to, I'll see you all in a couple of weeks, ok?" she said and then paused for a second. "Enjoy the wedding," she added, "maybe a few days in Ohio will be the break away from this girl that John needs," she suggested.

"Maybe," Amy agreed with a sniff, she felt so emotional and unprepared to be a parent. She glanced down at her pregnant belly. "I don't have anything to wear," she wailed, upset all over again.

Anne sighed and shook her head, she was so glad that Robbie didn't give her the emotional rollercoaster ride that both Amy and Ashley used to as teenagers – actually as Amy still did now that she was finally pregnant again. "Amy, your sister's best friend is a clothes designer," she reminded her daughter. "You know exactly where Griffin's studio is, go see him, he'll come up with something fabulous for you," she suggested.

"Thanks, mom," Amy sniffed, she knew the suggestion was a good one, she would have thought of it herself eventually, but her mom was so level headed – apart from her 'gay phase' as it had become known in the family. Amy was thankful that her mom, after trying a few unsuccessful relationships with women, had realised that she wasn't actually gay, she just needed some strong female friends and she much preferred a relationship with a man…she just had to find the right man!

* * *

"Hey," Puck murmured against Quinn's lips, he was happy to have found her snoozing on her bed, naked apart from the towel that was wrapped around her. "Did you do it?" he asked and lifted Quinn's left arm to inspect her inner bicep. "Yep," he answered himself when he saw the recent surgical scar. "So, we're ready to go?" he asked and climbed onto the bed beside her.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Quinn replied and bit her lip in her usual way, that little nervous gesture that turned Puck on so much. "Are _you_ ready?" she asked.

"More than," Puck groaned, "I haven't rubbed one out for days, I've been saving it all up for you," he added and then pressed his bulging groin against her. "Are you sure you don't want to wait another couple of months? We'll be married in just a few weeks," he reminded her.

"Nope, now," Quinn sighed and turned to allow the towel to fall open revealing her naked body to him. Puck groaned happily. "I am at the most fertile point of my cycle and if we are successful this weekend, our baby should be due right around Beth's fifteenth birthday," she reminded herself silently. "I want you," she groaned and then words were lost, moments were lost, hours were lost, lost in the love that surrounded the pair of them, lost in the love they had for each other – and for their future baby.

* * *

The day dawned, it was finally here, the day that Quinn would marry the love of her life, the day that she could tell him that he was going to be a father, that they were going to be parents. She sighed happily and tried to imagine how every part of the day was going to pan out, if it would all go as planned…and then she gulped and fled to the bathroom to puke heartily!

Judy's garden looked spectacular, the gardener had earned the hefty bonus that Judy had offered him just over a year ago when Quinn had stated that she and Puck wanted to get married right there, in the gazebo. Everything was set up exactly as Quinn wanted, the chairs were all lined up, the flower displays were amazing - Lawrence really had done a remarkable job - and the gazebo was decked out in Quinn's chosen colours, everything was perfect.

Puck arrived at Dudley Road with Jake - his best man - and his groomsmen, he was in his dress uniform complete with medals, cummerbund and bow tie. "You look absolutely wonderful," Judy said as she kissed Puck's cheek. "Who'd have thought," she sighed happily, "all those years ago when you and Quinn could barely speak to each other, that you'd be standing here today, just about to get married," she said and shook her head. "I am so proud of you both, of the people you've become," she whispered tearfully.

"Thank you, Judy," Puck replied, he felt rather emotional himself, plus he had a secret that he still had to tell Quinn – he knew she'd flip but it would be so worth it!

The guests began to arrive, Puck's groomsmen – Sam Evans, Mike Chang and two of his air force buddies – saw them to their seats. "Amy, Ricky," Puck called in greeting and went to meet them. "Hey, John, look at you," he said and ruffled the teen's dark hair. "Wow," he cried as Amy's belly nudged him. "Not long till you're a big brother, right?" he teased John.

John pulled a face, he was rather embarrassed that his parents had chosen to procreate once again, proving to everyone in his world that they didn't live a celibate life. "Yeah," John mumbled uncomfortably, he really didn't know why his mom and dad had made him come all the way to Ohio - and made him wear a suit - just to see some long time acquaintances of theirs get married when he could have spent the weekend with his grandpa and Kathleen – and obviously, Sasha!

"Congratulations," Amy said as she hugged Puck once again.

"Congrats, dude," Ricky said as he too hugged Puck. "You're made for each other," he added. "We'll go get settled," he said as other people arrived behind them. "Thanks," he said quietly as Mike Chang showed them to their seats. "Are you alright?" he asked Amy, he was sure he'd heard her suck in a breath – and not in a good way. "Is it the baby?" he whispered.

"She just moved and I don't know," Amy muttered as she shifted again to get comfortable, "maybe she's laid on a nerve or something."

"As long as you're not going into labour," Ricky said against her hair, he'd wrapped one arm around her shoulders and let Amy rest her head on his shoulder. "Please hang on for another few weeks, baby," he silently pleaded, Leo was counting on him to head the takeover bid and it was going to be at least two or three weeks of intense negotiations.

"Puck," Sam whispered, close to Puck's shoulder. "It's time, Quinn's ready," he added and then grinned. "Like she hasn't been ready for this for years," he snorted.

"She can't be, not yet, she's early and she's always late for everything," Puck hissed and glanced at his watch. "Shit, they should be here by now," he muttered and glanced down the drive towards the street.

"Everyone's here," Sam replied, he had a list on a clipboard - provided by Judy - he looked down the list and counted. "Everyone on the list anyways," he said as he checked the names once more.

"I know," Puck answered, "they weren't on the list," he admitted. "Oh, thank God, they're here," he sighed as a car turned onto the drive. "Just make sure Quinn stays upstairs for another few minutes," he instructed Sam.

"Ok," Sam agreed with some reservations, he could see the two females in the car as it approached. "I hope you know what you're doing," he thought to himself. Sam hurried into the house and stopped short at the sight of Quinn as she walked slowly down the huge, sweeping staircase, she looked stunning in her beautiful, heavily beaded 1920s inspired gown. "Wow," he exclaimed. "Quinn, you look beautiful, Puck is a lucky, lucky man," he said with a slight laugh. Many years ago, Sam would have wanted to be the person that Quinn was about to meet in the gazebo but that fantasy had disappeared just before Puck and Quinn had graduated high school when they'd finally come out as a couple - and they had been devoted to each other ever since.

"Thank you," Quinn murmured her reply, she was trembling with nerves, she had no idea how Puck was going to react to news of the pregnancy, he had talked often of probably spending a couple of years 'practising', once they finally abandoned all forms of birth control, before they had a child, like he just assumed it wouldn't happen straight away. Actually, all it had taken was some careful planning on Quinn's part and some amazing sperm on Puck's. Sam started talking some more but Quinn blocked his voice out, she could hear it but she just couldn't concentrate on it. "Is there some sort of problem?" she asked nervously. "Because it seems like you're delaying me for some reason," she added sternly. "Are you deliberately stalling me?" she asked with a tearful wobble in her voice. "Don't tell me Puck's gone AWOL," she cried as a sudden thought struck her. Obviously! Obviously, that must be what had happened, otherwise, she would be standing in the gazebo right now preparing to say her vows to the man she loved with her whole heart - the man who apparently didn't love her in the same way!

"Chill," Sam cried, he had no idea where Quinn had plucked that strange notion from, but he could see the panic that was on her face. "Just a couple of late arrivals," he assured Quinn. "Puck just wanted everyone to be seated for when you walk down the aisle," he explained. "Ok, there's Mike, everything ready now?" he asked Mike Chang.

"We're set," Mike answered. "Quinn, you look awesome," he commented with a shy smile. "And you know Finn is going to be watching, don't you?" he added as he approached Quinn and kissed her cheek.

"I know," Quinn agreed. Quinn fully believed that their friend would be around them today, she hoped he was around for all of the events in their joined and convoluted lives - all of their glee friends were still incredibly important to both her and Puck. "Ok, I'm ready," she sighed, she felt calm again. "Where's my mom?" she asked Judy was supposed to be walking her to the gazebo.

"Darling, I'm here," Judy hurriedly answered as she rushed in from the patio. "I was just talking to your sister and a couple of the other guests," she explained. "Are you ready?" she asked when Mike and Sam left to do their duty as groomsmen. For a moment, peace descended, it was just Quinn and her mom, they were totally alone - and they both knew that life was about to change. "Ok," Judy said as they heard the music change to the wedding march.

Quinn and her mom watched as the bridesmaids were escorted to the gazebo by Puck's groomsmen, she saw Puck as he stood so absolutely still in his uniform, waiting patiently for her to arrive, she saw Jake lean over and whisper something to his brother. Quinn drew in a deep, trembling breath and then let it out, shivering slightly as it went. "I'm ready," she whispered. Judy and Quinn stepped out onto the patio and walked carefully along the carpeted walkway, past all the seated guests to the beautifully decorated wooden structure. Puck turned and looked over his shoulder to watch her progress, he was mesmerised by the sight of her, entranced with her beauty. Quinn could barely breathe by the time she reached the few steps.

Puck descended the steps to take Quinn's hand from Judy. "Thank you," he whispered to his almost mother-in-law as he kissed her cheek. "You look awesome," he whispered to Quinn.

"You do too," Quinn whispered as they hugged tightly before walking up the steps together to stand before the celebrant.

The ceremony began with a prayer spoken in both English and then in Hebrew - they had chosen to combine elements from both faiths into their bespoke service. Puck couldn't help but smile sappily at Quinn, she just looked so damn beautiful, gorgeous and so freakin' stacked! He had no idea what was under that dress, but the last time she'd had boobs that were so juicily plentiful, she'd been pregnant with Beth! "...giving and receiving of rings," the celebrant said with a smile at the happy couple before her. "Do you have the rings?" she asked Puck.

Puck turned to Jake. "Rings?" he asked as he held his hand out.

Jake went through the traditional patting of pockets, making out that he didn't have them. Quinn rolled her eyes, she knew they'd do this part, the joking part, but seriously, enough was enough. "Dude, I don't have them," Jake hissed at Puck. "You were showing them to that girl, you know, the really pretty one, when we were waiting for Quinn to get ready," he explained a little louder than Quinn would have expected him to.

Quinn wanted to growl, she wanted to smack Puck over the head with her bouquet, actually, she thought he'd grown up, she thought he didn't need to always chat up the pretty girls, not anymore! "Well, who has the rings?" she asked in a very, very quiet, very, very hard voice.

"You let that girl try Quinn's ring on," Jake said as though he was backtracking with his thoughts, piecing together the events. "Did she give them back?" he asked.

"I don't think so," Puck replied and spun around to stare at the people gathered to witness the wedding. "There," he said and pointed towards the back. "She's there," he repeated.

Quinn spun around to glare at the girl who seemed to be holding her wedding ring hostage. How dare this skank hold up her wonderful day? Quinn gasped when she was met with the sight of a beautiful blonde teenage girl waiting at the foot of the steps with a small cushion in her hands, a cushion that contained two gold wedding bands. "Beth," she whispered, shocked by the sight of her daughter. Quinn glanced at Puck, she was so happy she couldn't speak.

"Surprise," Puck whispered with a grin.

"Surprise," Beth said at the exact same time, as she mounted the steps to bring the rings to the celebrant. "Happy wedding day," she said as she hugged Quinn and then handed the cushion to Jake. It had amused Beth to be drawn into that little drama, made up on the fly by both Puck and Jake as soon as she and her mom had arrived to watch her birth parents get married. "You look beautiful," she told Quinn before they could disengage from their hug.

"The rings?" the celebrant suggested gently.

"Oh, sorry," Jake replied and hastened to get things back on track. "The rings," he said and handed them to Puck, who placed them on the celebrant's open bible.

"By the giving and receiving of rings..." the celebrant intoned and then offered the blessed bands to first Puck, who picked up Quinn's ring and placed it on her finger, and then to Quinn, who picked up Puck's ring and placed it on his finger. The ceremony continued around Quinn - she was just bamboozled, she couldn't believe that the beautiful young girl - who had remained at her side - was the tiny girl that had come out of her body all those years ago. It was unreal, it was surreal...it was amazing!

"...you may kiss the bride," the celebrant smilingly informed Puck.

"Finally," Puck sighed as he took Quinn's face in his hands and placed such a gentle, tender kiss on her lips. "I love you, wife," he whispered before he deepened the kiss to something far more satisfying for both of them - to much applause from their gathered guests. A throat being cleared beside them brought both Puck and Quinn back to the present, back to awareness of their surroundings - and their audience.

"Please welcome, Mr and Mrs Puckerman," the celebrant instructed as Puck and Quinn turned to face their families and their friends and to take those first steps together as man and wife.


End file.
